Differences in sound of the same pickup wound to the same DCR with different wire AWG

[alexirae]

Hi,

Maybe this question is a bit silly for some and I couldn't manage to find the exact answer searching in the forum.

So, what's the difference in sound and output of a pickup (let's say a strat single coil) wound to match for example 6K DC Resistance with different wire gauges (an example with AWG 42 and AWG 43 is enough)

Thanks in advance!

[Leo_Gnardo]

It's early in the morning, winders are catching a nap so I'll pitch in what I hope is a good answer. Thinner wire = higher ohms per foot. So your 43 ga coil will have fewer turns than 42 ga to reach the same resistance. All other things being equal, fewer turns means a lower output. I'm sure one of our math oriented winders can give you a formula, later after we've all had a coffee or two.

One thing that bugs me a bit about some guitarists who "know a little something" is how they insist that they will only be pleased with pickups that have a particular resistance, disregarding everything else like wire gauge, number of turns, magnet type & strength & overall build style. "Only 7K pickups for me!". Well, whatever floats their boat...

[LtKojak]

Let's start from the beginning: you don't use DC readings as a reliable measure for anything.

In vintage Strat p'ups, you need about 7,000 turns of #42 to get about 5,3K, which gives an arguably low output. To get the same readings with #43 wire, only 5,300 are needed so the p'up will have almost no output, plus the tone will be thin and screechy, probably make your teeth hurt.

HTH,

[alexirae]

I'm asking this also because I would like to wind a "bit hotter" strat singlecoil for the bridge position, so I was thinking in reaching around 7.5K-8K DC Resistance which I think it is kind of the limit where the pickup bobbin can fit AWG 42 wire, so maybe that's a risk and then is better to use AWG 43 instead, but I don't know exactly if that wire gauge change will affect the final sound too much or not.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I'm asking this also because I would like to wind a "bit hotter" strat singlecoil for the bridge position, so I was thinking in reaching around 7.5K-8K DC Resistance which I think it is kind of the limit where the pickup bobbin can fit AWG 42 wire, so maybe that's a risk and then is better to use AWG 43 instead, but I don't know exactly if that wire gauge change will affect the final sound too much or not.

More turns will fatten the sound, and with skinnier wire you can wrap more turns per layer, and more layers overall. Give it a go, count your turns 'cos that's what counts. The resistance will turn out to be what it will be - as Pepe/LtKojak says, don't so much worry about it.

[copperheadroads]

I myself don't like hotter bridge strat pickups (I'm talking in the 7k range . the mids are increased along with the treble so you end up with a very bright nasally pickup .

[alexirae]

I'm trying to get a not very icy picky sound, do you recommend something like 6.7K, A2? I have available AWG 42 (Poly and Formvar) and AWG 43 Poly

[Alberto]

I've tried A3 with 9000-10.000 turns of 43awg wire for the bridge pickup and it works great, at least for my taste.

[kayakerca]

I'm trying to get a not very icy picky sound, do you recommend something like 6.7K, A2? I have available AWG 42 (Poly and Formvar) and AWG 43 Poly

I have a Strat bridge I wind with ~ 10,000 of 42 with A5's (runs @ 7.6kΩ). I've never had any complaints about them being ice picky.

[salvarsan]

So, what's the difference in sound and output of a pickup (let's say a strat single coil) wound to match for example 6K DC Resistance with different wire gauges (an example with AWG 42 and AWG 43 is enough)

Since the #43 wire has 23% more resistance than #42,
the coil will have ~23% fewer windings, about 2000 fewer in this case.
The sound would have a lot of treble.

[ScottA]

The more correct comparison would be to wind the different gauges to the same number of turns. Especially if you're looking for the more nuanced differences due to wire gauge.

As above if you're winding to DCR then the finer gauge wire will have fewer turns, and significantly lower inductance, output and higher resonant frequency.

Those factors will drive the tonal response much more than the wire gauge.

[alexirae]

Will a pickup have the same inductance with the same number of turns of different wire gauge?

[ScottA]

Will a pickup have the same inductance with the same number of turns of different wire gauge?

Approximately.

Larger wire (lower gauge) will give you more area per turn on the same bobbin, so all else equal a larger wire can give you a up to few percent more inductance than a smaller wire for the same number of turns.

[David King]

It has been said here before that the smaller gauge wire will have a smaller turns area and more turns are closer to the magnets which some say will yield a brighter sounding pickup for the same number of turns. It gets tricky because as you move the resonant frequency around you may bump up against the nonlinearity of human hearing and find that a pickup with a higher resonant frequency can actually sound darker.

[John Kolbeck]

If you end up with a higher impedance, as a result of using thinner 43 AWG in place of 42 AWG for the same number of turns, won't this also lower the Q factor of the pickup?